Priest of the Archdiocese of Washington

If You would be Perfect

First Annual St. Gabriel
Young Adult Lenten Day of Retreatat the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, MDOn March 7, 2015, I was invited by the St. Gabriel Young Adult Group to lead their first annual Lenten retreat at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, America’s first native-born saint. The retreat theme was “If you would be perfect” taken from the encounter of Jesus with the rich young man in Mark 10:17-22.The retreat coincided with the celebratory year of the 40th anniversary of St. Elizabeth Seton’s canonization on September 14, 1975, by Blessed Pope Paul IV. The retreat also coincided with the 30th anniversary year of the promulgation of St. John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter to the Youth of the World (Dilecti amici). The Apostolic Letter inaugurated what we know today as World Youth Day. The retreat talks were a reflection on some of basic themes of the Letter, as well as some of my own reflections on the narrative of the rich young man.